


Countdown to KH3

by starmelee



Series: Countdown to KH3 [1]
Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Gen, M/M, just a cute thing, not beta read but will eventually be edited, this is my countdown to KH3 thing so
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-17
Updated: 2019-01-20
Packaged: 2019-10-11 12:06:54
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,296
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17446664
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starmelee/pseuds/starmelee
Summary: A series of oneshots/drabbles leading up to KH3





	1. 13: Sand and Stargazing

**Author's Note:**

> Countdown to KH3!!!! This is day 13, Roxas. Idk if I'm doing just Org. XIII members because that sounds annoying but Roxas is my favorite so he's 13 anyway.

Roxas opened his eyes, blinking quickly to adjust to the light around him. He felt something grainy underneath him and something cold splashing up on his hand. He sat up with a sharp inhale, smelling the salt from the ocean he was laying in front of. He was… on the beach?

 

He looked out onto the water, the sun low in the sky and filtering through the water beautifully. But where was he? The last thing he remembered was being with Sora, still his nobody. He looked around, seeing a couple of small shacks and a raised part of the island. The… island? He was on _Destiny Islands_? He came to a stand, half of his right leg damp with water that had receded, and tried to shake out the sand the best he could. Not that it worked well, but at least it wasn’t as bad.

 

With a sigh, he stumbled over the sand. He still had on his boots from his organization outfit. Actually, his whole outfit was completely different. He was wearing a vest now? It looked kind of like his old jacket, so he liked that, but didn’t like how… young Riku that was. He shook his head-- not the point. He was wearing black cargo pants that were tucked into his boots. Odd combination, but he kind of liked it.

 

Roxas looked around again before continuing his awkwardly doe-like walk across the sand. It was like he hadn’t had legs in over a… well, he supposed he hadn’t had legs in a while, actually. He made it to a little dock and sat down, letting out another sigh, looking down at himself. How the fuck was he going to get out of here? He couldn’t use the portals because a) he wasn’t sure if he had that power and b) he didn’t have a coat to protect him from the darkness. He flopped back onto the deck and watched the sunset. He wondered what happened, why did he wake up on Destiny Islands? He’d never really been there when he was a nobody, it wasn’t like it was of emotional significance to him.

 

It was to Sora, though.

 

What was he supposed to do, wait there until someone found him? He didn't want to do that! Heavens only know how long it would take before Sora realized he was gone (that’d probably happened right away, now that he was thinking about it,) and then he’d have to tell the others, and then only like, four of them would be willing to help. There are so many worlds that it would take forever for anyone to even check Destiny Islands.

 

He sat up and looked to the sky, noticing a few stars that were beginning to twinkle from the darker parts of the sky. He would be okay.

 

He looked down at his hand and summoned Oathkeeper, his face splitting into a grin. How he’d missed actually just playing with his keyblades. Maybe he could get in some practice while he was there. Oblivion appeared in his other hand as he stood and jumped onto the sand again. He was going to test the limits that having a heart actually presented to him.

 

By the time he was starting to grow tired, the moon had risen far above him and the sky was littered with a sea of stars. He was laying down on the small dock, legs swinging over the edge. His keyblades had long been returned to wherever they go, and his hands were palm up on the hardwood. He was oddly happy with getting to be alone at first. Maybe it was being stuck in another person’s heart with three other people for so long, or maybe it was his more antisocial nature, but it felt good to have time to himself.

 

Being a somebody was new-- different. A tired smile grew on his lips, and then it turned into a dorky grin. He could finally be real. He was all his own this time, and no one could (or would) ever take that away from him.

 

“The stars do look nice, don’t they,” he heard a familiar voice ask as someone took a seat behind him. “You’d think the Mysterious Tower would have a better sky before three in the morning, but you would be wrong.”

 

Roxas’s eyes extended further upward so he was looking behind him, and he shifted his head until Lea came fully into sight. His friend’s eyes were cast up at the sky as he leaned back on his hands so he didn't have to tilt his head too far.

 

“Yeah, I remember. Sora used to get really frustrated because he always passed out at ten so he would miss all the good meteor showers. Vanitas always gave him shit for it,” Roxas chuckled, focusing his gaze back to the sky. He heard Axel shift to look at him.

 

“It’s good to see you,” Axel’s voice betrayed his smile, not that he was trying to hide it.

 

“It’s good to see you too,” Roxas responded, letting out a yawn.

 

“Let’s go home, Rox. You can sleep when we get there,”

 

They both sat watching the stars for a long time before either one decided to stand up and really leave. Something told Roxas this wouldn’t be the last time he saw the sunset or stargazed on Destiny Islands.


	2. XII: Strong Heart

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A short drabble about Sora and the Beast leading up to the fight with Riku and Sora getting his keyblade back. It's late, I haven't had time to do these, but holy fuck Beast was the only one there for him after Sora lost his keyblade, and if I were him, I would be overthinking shit like nuts. 
> 
> So here's Beast checking in.

Sora stood up and offered his help to the Beast, who accepted and followed him as a gracious companion. Between the two of them, things were relatively silent. Sora couldn’t fight well with his wooden sword, so he resorted to backing up Beast with magic, his companion tearing through the heartless like Sora had never seen before. 

Was it bad that he felt so numb? Maybe. He couldn’t fight, he lost his friends, the keyblade was gone, and now he was left with a wooden sword and the pieces of his friendships scattered around him. He knew that Donald and Goofy had a job to do, but it hurt. It hurt that they left him like that. What was worse was the way Riku was acting. Did he really think Sora didn't care about Kairi? Why was he letting the darkness take him over like that? It was more than a friendly competition now-- it was two friends at odds between darkness and light. 

Sora was really worried about Kairi, but he was worried about Riku, too. Maleficent did something to him. It had to be her. But why would he ever betray him like that? Was it because he thought Sora betrayed him first? But what kind of friend would that make him? Not a good one. But Riku wasn't a bad friend, he was just trying to figure things out on his own, but it wasn't in a good way. He just didn't realize what he was doing. Sora hoped he didn't know what he was doing, anyway. 

He lifted his brows so a frown wouldn't settle on his face, 

“Sora,” the Beast’s gruff voice drew him out of his spiral. Sora smiled at him sweetly. 

“What’s up?” They’d been walking towards the door they’d just unlocked, and they’d encountered a few heartless on the way that Sora absently shot some firaga or blizzara at. 

“You are distracted. You are not required to tell me what’s wrong, but you are strong. You will manage, should you place those feelings aside. Use them for the better. My temper often gets the best of me, do not let yours do the same.”

Sora laughed. “Thanks, Beast. I don’t really have a temper, though. My heart will guide me back to my friends, and my friends back to me! Right now, they need me to fight for them, and I’ll do everything it takes to let them come home!” He followed the phrase up with a pose, grinning widely at his companion. At least someone was there to ask and care about his feelings. Someone to bring him back when he needs it.

The Beast smiled at him. Well, Sora was pretty sure he was smiling. “Then your heart will win. Let’s go.” 

The doors opened, and they stepped inside. This was going to be it. Sora couldn’t give up now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I usually hate drabbles but I have 3 other chapters to write today so hopefully they'll be longer.


	3. XI: Late Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Axel had classes and a double shift, resulting in a late-night train ride back to Roxas's. The ride isn't without some thinking.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My girlfriend tried to prompt this for me and neither of us really took it to heart. Anyway, here's for my babe, some akuroku in a random AU I guess.

Axel closed his eyes and leaned against the back of the train car. It was three in the morning, the ideal time to be on a train, of course. It had been a long day, a longer night, and now he was stuck in an odd liminal space which was so giving him an existential crisis.

 

It’d been a long time since he’d thought about before. Before everything; the divorce, the move, him finishing school and moving out and meeting Roxas in his physics class. He’d been some dumb troubled kid who set people’s sheds on fire and hated his parents. Now he set people’s paperwork on fire and still hated his parents. Reno was a good older brother, though. Still, he’d been a criminal, a bad person from a young age. He didn't deserve what he had.

 

It’d been a long fifteen years, but now he was happy and willing to do whatever it took to keep that kind of good in his life. Roxas was pretty good at keeping him from blabbering on about what-ifs, but his boyfriend was likely upside-down on his own couch sleeping because Roxas was apparently a vampire when he didn't have a bed or didn't move to one. Axel was on his way to Roxas’s apartment (they hadn’t even thought about moving in together yet) with his key in his pocket.

 

It was a cute little thing, covered in flames. Roxas gave it to him at their six-month mark. He smiled slightly as he twisted the key between his fingers. He needed to stop thinking about all that stupid shit, but he couldn’t help but feel sadness wash over him. There was so much unnecessary shit he went through in his life, and there were a lot of things that went wrong. Surely far more than what went right, and yet, there he was, living it up to the best he could. He was getting his degree in astrophysics, he had a boyfriend and a cool brother and he was thinking about getting a cat. He had good friends that were assholes sometimes but that was a given. But did he  _ really _ deserve all of this?

 

He bit his lip as he clenched the key in his fist, hand shooting out to grab a pole when he realized the train was coming to a stop.

 

Once it was fully pulled into the station, he got off and started walking the darkened streets. It was a warm, summer evening, but that melancholy was still settled deep in his bones. He shoved his hands into his sweatshirt pockets, eyes lazily glancing about the street to make sure no one was around for him to bump into or to mug him.

 

There was a light fog that settled in the dimly-lit streets, creating an awesome atmosphere that Axel would have utilized for pictures at literally any other point in time, but just wasn’t in the mood for. He sighed as he ran a hand through his too-long hair, tying it back with the hair tie that was on his wrist.

 

He was too exhausted to think about everything he probably (totally) didn't deserve in his life.

 

He yawned as he walked up the block where Roxas’s apartment building was, walking by the desk and moving to the elevator. Roxas wanted the top floor apartment so bad that he actually offered to be the owner’s IT guy if his rent was cut down. Which was cute and would be a great deal if the guy didn't call Roxas at least three times a week with some kind of 2-hour problem that he somehow caused. It drove Roxas insane.

 

He unlocked the door to their apartment and shuffled inside, throwing his sweatshirt up on a hook and locking the door behind him.

 

“Axel?” Roxas’s groggy voice called from the living room. He had been a light sleeper from the start-- Axel should’ve known that he would wake him up.

 

“Yeah babe, s’just me,” he wandered into the living room as Roxas forced himself upright. They shared a quick kiss and Roxas tugged him down to sit with him.

 

“You okay?” Roxas pressed himself into his side. “I tried to stay up so I could call you on your way home but I got so tired.” His voice was a little shaky.

 

“Uh, yeah Rox, I’m fine, what’s wrong?” Axel frowned into Roxas’s hair as he hugged him around his waist, pulling him a little closer.

 

“Just a bad dream. You sure you’re feeling alright?” Roxas mumbled into his shoulder, placing his hand on Axel’s chest, right above his heart. Axel wondered if he was trying to make sure it was still beating.

 

“Bad day at school and work, but I’m alright, I promise. C’mon, let’s head to bed and I can change and then we can cuddle, okay?”

 

Roxas drowsily nodded and they stood up together, Axel tucking his thoughts in the back of his head for now. He could worry about those things later when he had Roxas to hit him for being an idiot. Which happened more often than he was really willing to admit.

 

Axel changed into his flannel pants and laid down next to Roxas, letting his boyfriend sap all of his warmth as they cuddled. Winters were a little chilly in Twilight Town, but that was never a problem with Axel around, apparently.

 

He smiled as he heard Roxas’s breathing even out, closing his eyes and falling asleep himself.


End file.
